Cognitive Developmental Factors and Rule-violating Behavior: The Role of Personal Attributes, Attitudes, and Peers

【摘要】青少年的违纪行为发生率高，控制违纪行为需要对青少年的社会发展有全面的认识。本研究将从三个主要方面帮助我们理解社会发展与违章行为之间的关系。首先，它将揭示青少年以更复杂和成熟的方式对道德和法律进行推理的能力的发展是否会降低他们违反规则行为的风险。其次，它将结合心理学和社会学的方法来阐明这种能力的发展是如何防止违反规则的行为的。例如，用复杂的方式对道德和法律问题进行推理的能力可能会通过影响青少年的个性、选择同伴或同时通过这两个过程来影响他们的违规行为。目前的研究将探索这些和其他潜在的手段，通过这些手段，以复杂的方式推理道德和法律问题的能力可能会降低违反规则行为的风险。最后，本研究将分别对初中生和高中生的上述问题进行检查，以检查在不同的社会发展阶段出现不同结果的可能性。数据将来自学生调查，这些调查将在整个新罕布什尔州的初中和高中的常规上课时间完成，并将根据主要研究者和两名联合主要研究者的研究经验，用适当的定量统计方法进行分析。拟议的研究结果将在一系列同行评议的期刊文章中传播，其数据将供心理和社会学系以及司法研究项目的研究生分析。最终，拟议的研究将对认知发展影响违反规则行为的方式提供更全面的理解，因此，将为旨在减少青少年违反规则行为的干预措施的制定和评估提供基础。

ABSTRACTBecause adolescents are disproportionately prone to engage in rule-violating behavior, controlling such behavior requires a comprehensive understanding of youths social development during adolescence. The present research will help us to understand the relation between social development and rule-violation in three primary ways. First, it will shed light on whether the development of youths ability to reason in more sophisticated and mature ways about morality and law puts them at less risk for rule-violating behavior. Second, it will combine psychological and sociological approaches to shed light on precisely how the development of this ability prevents rule-violating behavior. It might be the case, for example, that the ability to reason in sophisticated ways about moral and legal issues affects youths rule-violating behavior via its influence on their personalities, their choice of peer associates, or via both processes simultaneously. The present research will explore these and other potential means by which the ability to reason in sophisticated ways about moral and legal issues may lower the risk for rule-violating behavior. Finally, the present research will examine each of the above issues separately for middle-school versus high-school students to examine the possibility that different results emerge at different stages of social development. Data will come from student surveys that will be completed during regular school hours at middle-schools and high-schools throughout the state of New Hampshire and will be analyzed with appropriate quantitative statistical methods drawing on the research experience of the principal investigator and two co-principal investigators. Results of the proposed research will be disseminated in a series of peer-reviewed journal articles and its data will be available for analysis by graduate students in the Psychology and Sociology Departments and in the Justice Studies Program. Ultimately, the proposed research will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the manner in which cognitive development influences rule-violating behavior and, therefore, will provide the basis for the development and assessment of interventions aimed at reducing rule-violating behavior among adolescents.